Free Republic

Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey said in a Facebook posting Friday that “fellow Christians” should consider getting a handgun carry permit after the mass shooting in Oregon. Survivors told authorities the gunman demanded at least some of the victims state their religion before shooting them at a community college. In his posting, Ramsey, also the Tennessee state Senate speaker, called recent U.S. mass shootings “truly troubling.” “I would encourage my fellow Christians who are serious about their faith to think about getting a handgun carry permit,” Ramsey wrote. “I have always believed that it is better to have a gun...

NASHVILLE — The approval of a constitutional amendment to give the state Legislature more power to regulate abortions in Tennessee may have opened the floodgates to proposals from Republican lawmakers in the upcoming session, but Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey said Thursday that he doesn't expect most of them to be enacted.

State Sen. Doug Overbey, a Maryville lawyer, has pocketed a passel of endorsements in the 2nd District Republican primary. Newspapers, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Tennessee Education Association endorsed Overbey, along with Republican heavyweights Gov. Bill Haslam and, a bit surprisingly, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a tea party favorite. Given his opponent, Overbey needs all the help he can get. Scott Hughes, chief financial officer for a Knoxville church and former pro-life executive, is challenging Overbey at every turn, in every way. Though Overbey maintains an enormous financial advantage, Hughes has loquaciously roughed up Overbey in debates.

NASHVILLE - State Senate Republicans have decided against disrupting most Democrats' office assignments for the 2007 legislative session, but they are taking a disproportionate number of committee seats. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey acknowledges that to assure Republican control of all Senate committees, most Republicans will serve on three committees. Most Democrats will serve on only two. "That's just the way the math is," said Ramsey last week. The Senate has nine major committees. Most have nine members, though the Finance Committee and Government Operations Committee have 11 each. Republicans have a 17-16 majority in the Senate. As Senate speaker, Ramsey...

NASHVILLE — New Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey says he plans to have more conservative appellate judicial nominations recommended to the governor through his future appointments to the Tennessee Judicial Selection Commission. "It’s safe to say I’ll be appointing people who’ll have a little more of a conservative slant than people who’ve been there in the past," said Ramsey of the 17-member panel. Ramsey was elected speaker on Jan. 9, defeating Democratic state Sen. John Wilder, who had held the post for 36 years. The speaker also has the title of lieutenant governor. As speaker, Ramsey has power to shape state...

This past week, I have been asked many times why I voted for a new lieutenant governor. How could I vote for someone who is not a member of my own political party? The answer is very straightforward: I voted my conscience. The most basic tenet of democracy is that the majority rules. In the Tennessee Senate, Republicans have held the numerical majority for three years. Yet, we were in a peculiar situation where the minority continued to keep the majority in the form of the lieutenant governor. That is not our democracy. It was time for a change in...

NASHVILLE - Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey named Democrats to three of the top 10 Senate leadership positions Friday while assuring that Republicans have numerical control in all major committees. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, deadlocked 8-8 in a vote on whether to overhaul their own leadership structure. In effect, the tie vote derailed an attempt to oust Sen. Joe Haynes of Nashville as Democratic Caucus chairman. Ramsey, the first Republican to serve as lieutenant governor and speaker of the Senate since 1869, named Sen. Rosalind Kurita, D-Clarksville, as Senate speaker pro tempore. He insisted that the appointment was not a "reward" to...

NASHVILLE -- Democratic state Sen. John Wilder may no longer be the lieutenant governor, but he can still park his plane for free at the state hangar at the Nashville airport. Wilder, who had been speaker since 1971, was beaten by Republican Sen. Ron Ramsey of Blountville earlier this month. The Senate speaker also holds the title of lieutenant governor, and is first in the line of succession if the governor dies or resigns. Wilder this week cleared out the speaker's office at Legislative Plaza so Ramsey could move in. He has flown his plane dubbed "Jaybird" to and from...

History hunts for its participants, sometimes denying them their first choice for fame before foisting its indelible mark on them at an unexpected time. History found Rosalind Kurita on Tuesday. Kurita, a Democratic state senator from Clarksville, felt the breath of history last year when she challenged Harold Ford Jr. for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. The registered nurse would have become the first female U.S. senator from Tennessee had she prevailed over Ford and defeated Republican nominee Bob Corker in November. It was not to be. Ford vastly outdistanced her in fund raising, Democratic powerbrokers lined up...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican Ron Ramsey has been elected speaker of the Tennessee Senate, defeating Democrat John Wilder who has been speaker since 1971.